There is deep (and often secret) pain, longing, envy and shame in the struggle to create or grow a family. If you are going through fertility treatment, it is not just the procedures, cost and uncertainty that can be difficult. Fractures to existing relationships can develop while you manage the process around friends who have children, or are pregnant. Responsibilities such as work and family all have to be managed alongside your treatment.
Psychotherapy can provide another place to explore complex experiences and feelings that often struggle for an outlet in conversations with family and friends.
You might have experienced the intense grief of miscarriage, or the loss of the future you assumed you were going to have. Deciding when to stop trying, or finding the courage to begin again is intensely diffcult, and can feel isolating and uncertain. Therapy sessions can be a place to hear yourself think, without the noise of others' expectations, needs and wants.
I am a member of the British Infertility Counselling Association and have completed the advanced training. I am familiar with all aspects of procedure, medication and outcome. I am also experienced in being alongside the intense emotional toll of needing medicalised assistance to start, or grow your family.
Even if fertility treatment has not been your experience, the emotional impact of becoming a mother can be extremely uncomfortable. We are fed the myth that calm, gentle, tireless mothers arrive when the baby does, and experiencing anything other than beatific joy is some kind of failure. This is not the case, and there is nothing a new mother needs more than to be mothered. Although therapy cannot fill that role, it can be a place to park any shame, and speak about diffulties without fear of judgement, unwanted advice, or competitiveness.
Therapy can take place online, in person or in nature. Sessions are £70 for 50 minutes and I offer a free 25 minute introductory conversation. My contact page is below.